Chitradurga: Zilla panchayat officials on Tuesday warned of taking criminal cases against contractors who use machinery instead of employing labourers under the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

Chief Executive Officer of the panchayat N Jayaram in a press release strictly instructed officials to adhere to the guidance issued by the government under the MNREGA scheme.

The government had declared all six taluks in the district
drought-hit. In order to prevent people living in these areas
from migrating to urban areas, officials should ensure that
they were provided with jobs for at least 100 days in a year
in rural areas.

Observing that a few contractors were using machinery
instead of employing workers, Jayaram warned that stringent
action be initiated against them. If any gram panchayat was
found using machinery for MNREGA projects, such projects would
be cancelled.